Less than a week before next Thursday's season opener at Colorado, the Minnesota Wild traded in its hockey gear for military training attire at Camp Ripley near Little Falls.
Players and staff piled into a pair of CH-47 Chinook helicopters and made the short flight to the 53,000-acre Minnesota National Guard training center. Upon arrival, National Guard soldiers walked the likes of goaltender Devan Dubnyk and defenseman Ryan Suter through exercises aimed at team bonding, trust building and developing leadership skills.
Instagram from @minnesotawild: Team bonding ✅ Leadership training ✅Trust activities ✅Thanks for having us @mnnationalguard!
Scroll on for a sampling of social media posts from the day in north central Minnesota.
Team bonding, trust building emphasized during day with National Guard
Before start of regular season, Minnesota Wild visits Camp Ripley
